Scenes from a regular debating practice, which is held every week for four hours 50 < <strong>IDC</strong> Winter 2010 Up for <strong>The</strong> RRIS Debate Team with their coach, Uri Zakai (in the yellow shirt), and club co-president, Daniel Gindis (in the maroon shirt, next to Zakai)
ileft the interview with DAniel ginDis lOOking fOr A cAse, Any cAse, tO Argue. it wAs inevitABle: tO sPeAk tO ginDis is tO Be insPireD ABOut the Art Of DeBAte AnD sO much mOre. One of this year’s co-presidents of the Raphael Recanati International School (RRIS) Debate Club, Gindis is not only a walking, talking promotion for the Debate Club, he’s an example of how doing what you love to do can change your life. And that’s just what the <strong>IDC</strong> Debate Club did for Gindis. “Debate is a wonderful thing,” says Gindis. “It gives you more than you can quantify or measure.” A self-proclaimed talker, Gindis, now in his third year at the Sammy Ofer School of Communications (naturally), joined the Debate Club because it sounded both fun and educational. However the experience turned out to be even more valuable that he had imagined. “Debating has made me a more effective person. when i listen to what people say, i now know what they actually mean, which is something that goes far beyond the art of debate – debate is just the doorway to these skills. Besides that, I’ve gotten to spend time with great people and make good friends, and I’ve learned to write down my thoughts in a more clear, concise and structured form,” says Gindis. Now entering its fifth season, <strong>The</strong> RRIS Debate Club, led by Gindis and copresident Adam Grunewald, has had amazing success for a club so young. One of its greatest achievements came during the European debating championship, when RRIS debater Yuval Biggs won 18 th place out of 350 speakers. In national competitions, the club won both the 2007 English language open and the 2008 English juniors, and has reached the finals of practically every English speaking debate competition. One of the reasons for the club’s accomplishment is Coach Uri Zakai, Israel’s most successful debate coach. Zakai, a former European championship finalist, also coaches the <strong>IDC</strong> Hebrew Language Debate Club. According to Zakai, no other club in Israel compares to that of RRIS: “<strong>The</strong> RRIS club is a unique debating club in Israel. It’s the only one that is composed mainly by exchange students and new immigrants. <strong>The</strong>y are required to battle the intricacies of logic and speech as well as learning how to appeal to their Former RRIS debater, <strong>IDC</strong> graduate Yuval Biggs, who won 18th place out of 350 speakers at the European debating championship uP fOr DeBAte Israeli adjudicators - in essence practicing debating in English while taking into account the rhetorical characteristic of the Hebrew speaking population around them.” Israel is the home for some of the most prestigious and competitive English speaking teams in Europe, and so the RRIS Debate Club frequently welcomes Israel’s Hebrew speaking clubs, whose members wish to practice debating in English before competitions. <strong>The</strong>re are also jousts with a number of international debate clubs who come to lock horns and meet their Israeli counterparts. Getting by on minimal funds, the club is eager to find sponsors for events, which would allow them to compete more in the international arena. According to Gindis, most people have the wrong idea about what debate actually is: “Debating is not just learning how to argue, where you do whatever you can to get your message through. It is actually the opposite – it’s a logical, reasoned structuring of your case.” <strong>The</strong> Debate Club also offers students a chance to hone their personal and professional skills and develop new ones. For some it offers a chance to face one’s fear of public speaking. For others it offers training in how to instill content into one’s arguments. Says Zakai, “<strong>The</strong> RRIS is a fascinating meeting place of cultures and rhetorical styles, and the club is cherished by its members, who stay in it years after getting their credit out of a desire for the game and a burning love for the art of rhetoric.” For Gindis, it enabled him to structure his mind and develop a fundamental skill he will take with him for the rest of his life. “It’s more than technical knowledge – you don’t need to know much about the subject you are arguing, but you need to understand its value, which is essential to human communications. Now, when I speak with someone, I can hear what they are really talking about and reach the crux of what they are saying, and therefore respond in a way that speaks to them. So the value of debate is that it’s something you can take out with you into real life and apply it. Debate has helped me to become a better listener and therefore a better communicator.” – Joy Pincus Debate “the rris is A fAscinAting meeting PlAce Of cultures AnD rhetOricAl styles, AnD the cluB is cherisheD By its memBers, whO stAy in it yeArs After getting their creDit Out Of A Desire fOr the gAme AnD A Burning lOve fOr the Art Of rhetOric” – Uri Zakai, RRIS Debate Club coach <strong>IDC</strong> Winter 2010 > 51
Change language